Abstract
Football, also referred to as soccer, is the most popular ball game in the world and is played in every country at different levels. The purpose of the study was to describe the experiences of female football coaching staff working in a male-dominated sport. This study used a qualitative research approach to gain an understanding of the individual and commonality of female coaching staff experiences. There were five female coaching staff interviewed; three were from Gauteng Province and two female coaching staff from North West Province of South Africa, all coaching at a university level. To determine the study's results, the data from the interviews were analysed using thematic analysis to find patterns and themes across the interview responses. The study had three themes: (1) Being a female (2) Support for female coaches (3) Female-specific challenges. Based on the findings, males dominate in football and use positional power to exclude women in leadership positions. There is no doubt that gender equality remains a challenge for female football coaching staff. As a result, some of the challenges identified by female coaching staff in the study are both professional (competition) and gender-specific (harassment), and are viewed as barriers to career advancement. Female coaching staff discovered that approaching and addressing issues immediately before escalating was beneficial in dealing with these identified challenges. Furthermore, some female coaching staff would open up to their male colleagues about the difficulties they were experiencing. This case study contributed to the existing body of knowledge by providing valuable insight into the experiences of female football coaching staff working in male-dominated sport. Recommendations include reviewing the hiring process of female coaching staff and clarifying to female coaches that training courses will be organised to educate them on a mixed-gendered team sport. It is suggested that future research should focus on researching male players' experiences while being coached by female coaches.
Keywords: female coaching staff, male players, football, experiences, challenges, conflict, gender roles, sport, stereotypes.